May

As American horror movies become increasingly derivative and lame it's a real surprise to see something this fresh and original. I wouldn't have even looked at this one twice if I hadn't had it recommended to me by a few people who know their stuff. I'm so glad I listened to their advice and gave it a shot, otherwise I would have missed out on seeing this gem! 'May' is a quirky black comedy with horror elements (nods to Frankenstein and 'Pieces', Argento namedrops). Angela Bettis is perfectly cast as the goofy Goth outsider May who secretly yearns for hunky horror buff Adam (Jeremy Sisto). He says "I like weird. I like weird a lot", but he doesn't know what he's in for! Anna Faris ('Scary Movie', 'Lost In Translation') plays May's lesbian co-worker, and James Duval ('The Doom Generation', 'Donnie Darko') plays a vapid punk. I really enjoyed this movie, especially Angela Bettis' performance, and I will look out for her work in the future, as well as writer/director Lucky McKee's. If 'May' is any indication of McKee's talent then he is someone to keep an eye on.

I have seen "May" about five times or so by now, and it is still as good as the first time I saw it. I found it by sheer random luck in the local secondhand DVD store. I bought it without knowing anything about it or the people starring in it.

What makes "May" unique is the absurdly entertaining story, but also the entire cast. Especially Angela Bettis who performed the role of May to perfection. She was so well-cast for this role. Anna Farris also really performed quite well, and it was nice to see her out of the usual comedy genre that she is in.

The story, shortly summarized, is about a socially inadequate loner named May, who falls in love with a guy she sees on the street, and she tries desperately to get his attention and affection by all means necessary.

"May" is both a story and character driven movie, and it is the type of story that creeps in under your skin and will stick with you. It has a good combination of drama, character acting, thrills and blood. Yes, there is blood!

I can strongly recommend that you sit down to watch "May" if you haven't already seen it. It is one of those movies that is a surprise of a movie.

I'm so glad people are re-discovering horror as a serious genre because the endless SCREAM rip-offs were getting more tiresome than even the previous decade's endless HALLOWEEN rip-offs. MAY not only operates as a great horror film, it also is a wonderful character study of social dysfunction. Angela Bettis is wonderfully painful to watch in her attempts at love. She's an actress to keep your eyes on in the future. The ending gets a little more standard but is just creepy enough to keep you on the edge of your seat.

I remember hearing the buzz on this movie awhile back but never rented it. We have a bad snow storm headed our way so I figured I'd rent a few movies and stay indoors. Rented this on a whim and I was really amazed! You pretty much have a good idea where the movie is going, but there are a lot of truly strange and touching moments along the way.

Angela Bettis is such a fantastic actress! Her jittery mannerisms are near perfect. And towards the end she becomes more self-assured and confident when she starts down her dark path. It almost makes me want to rent the TV version of Carrie that she started in .... well, almost.

The film has a lot of heart, it's surprisingly emotional.

You want infatuation, the twisted kind brought upon by someone longing for something true, but only to be strung along and heartbroken. Lucky McKee's "MAY" is an indie film that draws you in; slowly forming its basis around vivid characters, ongoing interactions, developing pathos, and relationships to only turn it upside down. From quirky one minute, to startling the next, but always underlining its twitchy psychological makeup is a certain calamity that no one can escape. What it really does thrive on though, is the edgy dynamics of Angela Bettis' affectingly misunderstood, yet adorably offbeat lead performance brought upon by her character's awkward naivety, stemming from her constant loneliness that can be traced back to when she was a child. Her best friend is a doll in a glass case that was given to her by her mother as a child, and it seems to somehow communicate, getting into her unstable head. Bettis' portrayal is great, not to take anything away from a mild-mannered Jeremy Sisto and seductive Anna Faris who were equally so, in their characters' careless selfishness of their treatment of May. However it's definitely all about Bettis and her character's slow, crippling descent in finding that someone, who's 100% perfect. How she gets there, can be darkly humorous, but also insanely morbid, as McKee gets it spot on blending these two elements together.